Geeking Out | Open

[Oliver Dubois]

It was safe to say that there were a few things that got Oliver completely excited and geeking out. One of those happened to be forensics, which was a field him and his mother both shared. So he was a little excited when he stopped by the library earlier that day to see that they had a new book on forensics. He quickly checked it out and headed out towards the mess. He found the mess to be one of the quietest spots in camp to read between meal periods, which was perfect for reading. He sat down at one of the tables as he sat the book in front of him and opened it up to one of the pages. He took a deep breath before he leaned over the book and started reading the pages intently, soaking up every word he read.

[Deleted]

If there was one thing Isla hated more than anything, it was being told what to do. Too bad for her, Legionnaire life never really had much consideration for the feelings of foot soldiers and centurions weren’t so keen to do their cohort’s assigned tasks. So more often than not Independent Isla found herself burdened with a list of someone else’s chores and it bothered her to her wit's end. This hierarchy certainly wouldn’t have been supported by her mother Invidia, but what could Isla do about it? The Ancient Romans were known for their creative punishments for dissenting soldiers and New Rome was no different. (after all, what did you think the origin of decimating was?)

So Isla bit her tongue that morning when she was told that she was going to be on dish duty of all things. Clearly, this wasn’t something that she was jumping up and down to complete. So, when the cohort scattered, she dragged her feet towards the mess hall, fruitlessly trying to prolong her arrival. Keyword there was fruitless because even at her snail’s pace it didn’t take her very long to find herself among the familiar long couches and low tables. Standing near the entrance, Isla eyed the kitchen doors on the other side of the room. A sense of disgust crawled up within her, but she didn’t know if it was the mere idea of scraping off her peer’s leftovers or if it was a delayed reaction from earlier. Either way, she wasn’t walking through those doors if she could help it. She was going to do anything, but that.

So in an effort to temporarily postpone her chores, Isla knew that she still had to do it, of course, she sat down and leaned back on of the many couches in the room. Staring at the ceiling, she let her mind wander to places far away from New Rome and disgusting chores. However, just as quickly as her daydreams started, the sound of papers resulting somewhere near her knocked her out of it. She pushed herself back onto her elbows and glanced around to find the source of the noise. Over to her left was a kid, just reading a book which was really strange, even for a place with war’s kids and an elephant running around. He didn’t look to be much older than she was, so very clearly he was a member of the legion like she was. That made her wonder why she was hanging out around here instead of anywhere else in New Rome. Leaning back on the couch, she saw how engrossed the other boy was in his book, maybe that was why. Either way, she kept an eye on the kid, wondering what had his attention so focused on what was in front of him and what was causing the slight smile to appear. She stayed silent for a few moments, debating whether to disrupt his train of thought, but curiosity always won out with her.

“Whatcha reading?” She asked him as she tried to peer over at the book, disturbing the peace. Hopefully, the kid would mind her questions that much.Though, Isla probably wouldn’t be kind enough to do so if someone pestered her like that. Oh well...

[Oliver Dubois]

Oliver was just so engrossed about this one section of forensics that he didn't notice that someone else joined him in the mess. But as long as they didn't bother him, he was okay having company even if he didn't realize it. There was a small smile on his face and that only seemed to keep getting bigger and bigger as he kept reading on about techniques they used to determine how long a person had been dead. He was about to turn the page when he heard a voice. He was so caught off guard that he nearly ripped the page he was trying to turn. Startled, he looked up quickly from his book only to bump his head against the girl's who was looking down at his book.

"Shit," he said as he reached up to rub his head as he looked at the girl. "Shit. I'm really sorry about that. Usually I don't have people over me. Are you alright?"

[Deleted]

She was just too curious for her own good and she, of all people, should have known that it would turn around to hurt her. The only thing though, Isla didn’t expect to that to be quite literal. Almost as soon as she asked him her question, he reeled his head back, eyes wide open in a startled shock that was akin to a deer in the headlights. Clearly, he had no idea that Isla was even in the room before she had made her presence known. For a split-second she felt a twinge of guilt, but that momentarily subsided when his head knocked into hers. Isla didn’t have time to react, it just happened and now she had a dull thud echoing in her ears as a result. Instinctively, she reached up to her head and rubbed the spot where their heads had connected, trying to subside the reverberations bouncing around her mind like it was a pinball machine. Isla also took a step back, now understand why it was a bad idea to stare over someone’s shoulders. Karma can come in the smallest of forms and Isla had little doubt that if her mother was watching, she’d be snickering at the lesson her daughter had just learned.

“Sorry, I was just trying to see...” Isla apologized with the guilt becoming clear on her face. It didn’t take a Ph.D. to understand how rude of a move that was on her part. After all, if she were in his shoes, she wouldn’t be all that happy if someone peered over her shoulder without her okay. That was just creepy. Despite that Isla still wanted an answer to her original question. What on earth could he be reading that made him so happy? She had never seen someone smile so much while their nose was in a book. Plus, it didn’t hurt that books were also a rare sight in a place like this where brawn was favored over brain power.

“I’m fine,” Isla reassured him before turning to his own well-being, “Are you okay?” She hoped that she didn’t hurt him or scare him too much with that shock. It really would suck if he actually managed to bruise his brain or something like that. “I didn’t mean to scare you, I just…” She started to say, struggling to say the words that captured her explanation that didn’t make her seem rude like Flynn or Jen. However, that was harder said than done, so she just went with the truth, “I’ve never seen someone look so happy while reading. I wanted to know why.” She looked down slightly, worried that he might get mad, understandably so, or that he would tell her off for disrupting his silence. She wouldn’t blame him, truthfully, but maybe hopefully he would still tell her.

“Oh,” Isla said as she remembered that she hadn’t introduced herself, maybe making her seem ruder than she already came off as, “I’m Isla by the way.” If he wasn’t too mad at her, maybe not only would she get her answer, but he would also be kind enough to give her his name.

[Oliver Dubois]

Oliver kept rubbing the spot where their heads collided. There was definitely a dull ache on that spot, but nothing that wasn't too unbearable. He looked at the girl to make sure she was okay, but she almost looked more startled than him a moment ago. However, once the shock of the moment wore off, he actually got a good look at the girl. She wasn't in his cohort and Oliver was pretty sure that he hadn't seen her around the camp before. Or maybe he had? He wasn't quite sure, but it took him a moment to realize that the girl asked him a question back.

"Yeah," he said as he shook his head and lowered his hand. "I'm alright." But she wanted to know what he was reading? He glanced down at his book to realize that he was on a section about autopsy and it had some very in-depth pictures of the different techniques. He quietly closed the book before the girl hopefully caught a glimpse of what was on the pages. "It's just something I like learning about," he said with a bit of a shrug. He smiled a bit as the girl introduced herself as Isla. "I'm Oliver," he said as he extended his hand towards her. "I don't think I've seen you around camp before."

[Deleted]

Oliver was going to have to move a bit faster next time if he didn't want Isla to see what was on the pages. She just barely managed to catch a glimpse, but it was enough for her to question this quiet, seemingly awkward boy's interests. In particular, she had seen a small diagram illustrating the "proper" way of removing several organs for examination. Isla didn't know that was what it was showing though, after all, she could only grab a glimpse at the image and not read the full caption. She glanced warily at Oliver, equally wondering why someone would be reading a book with those kinds of pictures and whether or not Isla should be running very far away right now. 

For some reason, though she didn't take off, as strange as this boy's reading interests were. It didn't seem this slightly built boy was reading it for practical knowledge. He wasn't giving off any evil vibes and Isla was pretty good at sensing that kind of thing. If anything he did seem a bit nerdy, but that was beside the point. "Pretty morbid thing to be learning..." Isla said quietly, almost to herself more than anything, before continuing dryly, "Still doesn't answer the question though." That was such a weird and somewhat concerning thing to see someone reading that Isla probably couldn't walk away now without the full reassurance that this kid really wasn't a serial killer in the making. 

Oliver. It seemed like a nice name for a nice kid, but then again that was currently being called into question. "I don't think I've seen you around much either," Isla said offhandedly, gradually pushing the conversation away from the topic of weird pictures in a strange book. She was also wondering why she had never seen the kid around camp before. It wasn't like this place was filled with a ton of kids, surely they would have crossed paths before. "I'm a part of the fourth, maybe that's why?" Isla offered up as a possible explanation. Also since this conversation was a common one in the legion, she could sense what his next question may be and she decided it would be better to just answer it before he asked. "Invidia, you?" That's the way of the legion, you told someone your cohort first, then you shared your godly connection. 
omnium legionum. The Legion above all.